2005 Volkswagen Jetta: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Jun 3, 2017 · Electrical, Engine · GA

I have had nothing but issues with my 2005 jetta since purchasing it a little over a year ago. The first issue was loss of power while driving, causing me to almost be struck by other vehicles while turning at intersections. Cause: the fuse box ontop of battery melted, along with the fuses and ground wire. Then the coolant resevoir had to be replaced. Due to the fans not turning on because of those fuses melting. Then, then radiator. Then the break pump, exaust manifold gasket blew. The thing recently wasni had no break lights. Went to change bulbs. Kept breaking the fuses. Then stuck in park. Saw a recall listed for faulty break switch. Called vw they stated my recal had already been serviced. So sorry it was up to me to repair the issue. Told them of every other issue. They said there was nothing they could do for me. Basically I bought a very unrealiable, unsafe, piece of garbage. That I assumed was completely opposite for myself snd my two small children to be dependant upon getting us safely place tonplace.

Filed Dec 15, 2015 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · NY

We have a 2005.5 vw jetta and have been experiencing hard shifting while driving for about a year and half . More recently the gears are stalling to shift we were driving in a local street when our car would not shift into 4th gear the engine would rev but would not shift. It is very unsafe for this to happen when you are on busy roads or merging on to highways etc. We have not used our car since and our mechanic told us it was u safe to drive. I can't believe vw has not taken ownership for there mistake and make a recall. Our car just passed 100,000k and should not be having this problem . To fix the problem we were told its the valve body and the part itself is $1,200 not including labor cost.

Filed Aug 6, 2013 · Acceleration, Electrical · 118,000 miles · AZ

2005.5 jetta--vehicle has rough shifting between 2nd and 3rd gears. As well as downshifting. While driving on a mountainside, going 65 MPH, the car suddenly downshifted to 3rd gear and would not accelerate. I had to pull over on the side of a mountain, with cars flying by me. The car would not shift gears until turned off and on again. This is now happening during regular acceleration at low speeds. This is a huge safety concern, as I could have been rear ended by another vehicle due to loss of power/speed.

Filed May 2, 2012 · Transmission · 69,577 miles · MD

Vehicle has manual transmission, driver selected first gear at an intersection, pulled away from light when it changed to green, tried to change to second gear, however gear lever stuck in first gear, would not move into neutral, luckily driver had enough forward momentum to clear intersection and roll off to the side of the road. With engine running driver is unable to select a gear, only way to put transmission into a gear is to turn off the engine, vehicle taken to volkswagen dealer for repair, clutch pressure plate had cracked in half.

Filed Oct 19, 2011 · Transmission · 128,000 miles · HI

Transmission failure. Won't shift from second to first. Or first to second. If engine is very hot it will most times but not at all if cold or warm.

Filed Dec 15, 2010 · Transmission · 80 miles · CA

There is a long running issue with the 2005 1/2 vw jetta v transmission valve body that is a safety issue with the transmission. When the trans gets hot sitting in traffic. The transmission slips in and out of gear or shifts very hard or will not shift at all and may cause a rear end accident as the jetta does not shift. Vw america does know of the problem and issued a extended warranty to 100,000 miles or 7 years. But after doing extensive research there are jetta's that are out there that have mileage over the 100,000 miles. When you call vw, they refuse to help and do not care about the safety of the people that own their product. There is also issues with premature brake light bulbs and head light bulbs burning out.

Filed Nov 15, 2010 · Transmission · 120,583 miles · KY

We recently bought a 2005 volkswagen jetta (the newer design also coincided 2005.5) from a private individual in march 2010. We noticed there was a slight problem with shifting gears that continued to get worse. In june 2010 we took the car to a local volkswagen dealer and discussed the problem. They told us it sounded like the dual mass flywheel was the problem. That there was 2 different manufacturers that make the flywheels and they no longer use one of the manufacturers due to defects and problems with the flywheels they made. They said it was a known problem that the flywheels were bad and would need replaced way before they were suppose to. Even though the problem was known by volkswagen they refused to fix replace the defective part. They said we could continue to drive it and but would continue to get worse and end up tearing up alot of other stuff if it did. We looked online and found many other people having this same problem, though no recall. We also read where if the flywheel locked up/came apart while driving it could lockup the entire car. We did come across where the flywheel had been recalled in europe. The car was drove till november 2010 when it had gotten to the point where it would downshift on hills and when you would try to get up speed to merge onto the interstate it would not shift to the next gear( but the rpms were normal) and was forced to merge onto the interstate at a very slow and unsafe speed. The engine also had a very loud chatter noise. We decided to have it fixed and replaced the flywheel assy & mount bolts and had to have the transmission fluid flushed and refilled and a new filter put in. Totaling $1423.00. The new flywheel was not the same as the original one. It now runs great. Shifts perfectly and smoothly.

Filed Feb 3, 2009 · Fuel system, Lights · 71,207 miles · NY

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 volkswagen jetta. In april of 2007, the contact received a recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v063000 (exterior lighting:brake lights:switch). The vehicle was repaired at that time. Approximately a year and a half later, the brake light switch began to fail again. When the brake pedal was depressed, the brake light switch would not stop illuminating on the instrument panel and the vehicle would not shift gears. The vehicle was turned off approximately three times and, finally, the brake light dimmed and the vehicle became mobile. The failure occurred intermittently for one month and the contact called the dealer. She was informed that the brake light switch was defective. The manufacturer stated that since the failure occurred more than twelve months later, they were not liable for the repairs. The current mileage was 71,707 and failure mileage was 71,207. Updated 03-09-09 *bf the shifter would not come out of park. The fuel pump was noisey and which was replaced by the dealer. Updated 03/12/09.

Filed Aug 24, 2007 · Engine · 47,400 miles · TX

I own a 2005.5 volkswagen jetta. Just prior to the 40k service the car developed a dangerous power loss problem which rendered the car powerless and the only way to clear the problem was to pull over, shut the car off and restart. We took the car into the shop for our 40k service and no problem was found. In july we took the car on a road trip to santa fe nm and the problem became chronic. We took the car to premier motorcars in santa fe 505‑428‑5521 on july 5th, and as of today, august 24th the car is still not repaired. I have also joined a forum where I have met others with the came car, having the same problem and their cars are not being repaired. I have their names, ro numbers and vw claim numbers upon request. There appears to be a serious problem that so far appears to affect the 05.5 jetta tdi models. The problem causes the car to enter a "limp mode" where basically the horsepower is reduced dramatically and can happen unsuspectingly causing the driver to not be aware of an unsafe condition entering traffic. To make an example the first time it did this to me I was at a stop sign at a busy highway. I had sufficient clearance to cross but unknown to me my car had lost power but I didn't realize this until entering the intersection causing me to barely miss an oncoming car. Vw has been very uncooperative with all of us as far as letting us share our information with them. I have compiled the service info for all of these people and shared it with each and when we speak to vw they refuse the information. It appears that vw has no idea what is causing this problem leaving many of us without our cars for months.

Filed Jul 13, 2006 · Transmission · 35,100 miles · GA

I was driving and depressed the clutch in my car, at which time I felt a snap and I could no longer change gears. It began working again about forty minutes later, but would not shift gears at times. The dealer said that the clutch pressure plate was not releasing properly and that I needed to replace the entire clutch assembly including the flywheel, and that this is not a warranty item, even though my car has only 35000 miles and is under warranty for more than 70000 miles. This repair is quoted to cost me over 2000 dollars.

Filed Apr 29, 2005 · Transmission · CA

In the mornings the car will not go into reverse when your foot is on the brake, you have to let off on the brake and reverse the engine a bit, then the car jumps into reverse, suddenly and unexpectly lurches backward. Dealers response: back your car into your garage or parking space at night so you don't need to use reverse in the morning.